Jack Daniels ad gets it right

Yesterday I came across the above ad for Jack Daniels that instantly reminded me of Srila Prabhupada’s analogy of a bottle of honey.

So what can an advertisement for whiskey have to do with Krishna consciousness? The message is: if you want to know what Krishna consciousness is, then you have to submit to the process under the direction of a devotee. Here are Srila Prabhupada’s words:

Nondevotees simply waste their time reading Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, and we have often mentioned that so-called scholars, politicians and philosophers simply give misleading commentaries when they try to interpret Bhagavad-gita. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur used to say that they are like people trying to lick at a bottle of honey that is sealed closed. If one does not know how to taste honey, one begins licking at the bottle, but for one to actually taste the honey, the bottle must be opened, and the key to its opening is the devotee. Therefore it is said:

“In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.25)

God is eternal, and His instructions and followers are also eternal. In Bhagavad-gita (4.1) Krishna tells Arjuna that millions of years ago He spoke Bhagavad-gita to the sun-god. Bhagavad-gita was spoken to Arjuna five thousand years ago, and if we read it today we will still find that it is fresh. Bhagavad-gita and Krishna are never old. Although Krishna is the most ancient one, the oldest of all, He always remains like a young boy in His teens. He never appears older than twenty. Krishna’s words are absolute, as well as His form, qualities and activities. They are always fresh and new. If they were not, how could the devotees glorify them day after day with greater enthusiasm? The more one glorifies Krishna, the more enthusiastic one becomes in glorifying, glorifying, glorifying. This is the meaning of spiritual. In the material world, if we repeat something once, twice, thrice or four times, it finally becomes hackneyed and disgusting. However, this Hare Krishna maha-mantra can be chanted twenty-four hours daily, and one will still feel fresh and enthusiastic. It is not a material sound like the sounds we hear on the radio. It is a spiritual sound that comes from the spiritual world. Even in the material world we can release a sound from one place, and it can be heard thousands of miles away. A spiritual sound can be released from many trillions of miles away, and it can be heard, provided that one has the machine to capture it. That machine is bhagavat-prema. Those who have developed love of Godhead can hear it.

Arjuna was neither a Vedantist nor a sannyasi, nor was he particularly advanced in spiritual understanding. However, he heard Bhagavad-gita because he was a bhakta [devotee]. Atheistic scholars and politicians cannot understand the transcendental vibration. They can only lick at the honey bottle. Fools and rascals eat and drink everything without restriction, thinking that they are doing so in the name of religion. There are many so-called swamis and yogis who tell their disciples that they can do anything and still advance spiritually, but this is not possible. One has to become a pure brahmana, control the mind and senses and discuss the Supreme Personality of Godhead among sadhus. This may sound very difficult, but one can become a sat, a saintly person, within a second. If one is eager, one can immediately surrender to Krishna. (excerpt from Teachings of Lord Kapila, Vs 34, purport)